Unwrapping the Lake Dunstan Trail
Like a child eagerly waiting for Christmas, I too am like a big kid counting down the days until the Lake Dunstan Trail opens. It’s like being given a new bike, but having to wait years before unwrapping it for a ride and try out all the bells and whistles. Yet for me, Christmas came early. A few strings pulled saw me get a sneak peek, pre-opening, to map the trail! The riding day arrives and I am bubbling with anticipation and questions. I am wondering how the trail designer and builders could make the impossible … possible. One only has to drive the highway on the opposite side of the lake between Cromwell and Clyde to know this is not a hillside for easy cycling. How was it possible to mark up and construct a gentle grade cycle trail on the sheer sides of a gorge? It was safe to say my companion and I were keen to put our wheels on the freshly laid gravels and see how they fared.
We start riding at the northern trailhead at a place called Smiths Way. Starting at Smiths is a bit of an anticlimax as it’s a dusty road end at present, but it has a promising future. Here, where a few rabbits make their home in
